All posts by Darci

Darci Morales, producer on “Republique”, said one of the most challenging aspects of building an episodic game is the ever-changing tech and platform landscape.

“With each episode, we update Unity and our plug-ins, add new features, and then retroactively add those improvements to previously released episodes,” said Morales. “The design, programming, and QA workload just seems to increase with each new release. We’re also expanding the game to new platforms, which is why we partnered with Darkwind Media to expand the franchise to Android this time around. On the creative side, we have to be very thoughtful in designing future content to make sure it’s aligned with what the dev and art team can transition to. I really like the episodic model, but it increases the pressure, as you want players to love every new release.”

Morales said the truly unique thing about “Republique” is its ‘one touch’ controls. The game’s stealth action gameplay is accessible to all gamers.

“We’re leaving the world where games can only be experienced by players who can wrap their hands (and minds) around seventeen-button controllers,” said Morales. “I love where this is going and how the face of gaming is changing to be more inclusive for all gamers.”

At the same time, new processing power from companies like Nvidia is allowing developers to bring games on par with Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles.

“The astounding thing we marvel at is the graphical quality on par with console gaming,” said Morales. “This has been a huge development and we have been happy to push ourselves to bring this to our game. If you play “Republique” you are instantly brought into that world with the environments and animations. This is improving all the time and we look forward to evolving with it.”

The very essence of what a mobile game is has been evolving now for several years. The introduction of Google TV and other micro consoles will further blur that line.

This article is from June 2007, when I was interviewed for the Seattle Weekly newspaper on what it’s like to be a tester in the games industry.

Most of my career was in QA; I’ve shipped over thirty titles. When I was at Surreal I started out as Lead QA Manager before moving over onto the production side of things, so they thought I was a good person to ask about the industry. (After all, after a decade in the QA saltmines, I had a lot to say about it).

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You might know me from the games I’ve worked on, which include Tornado Outbreak, The Suffering: Ties That Bind, This Is Vegas, Red Dead Revolver, Midnight Club II, Midnight Club III:Dub Edition and many more.